


home is where your wi-fi connects automatically

by zimtlein



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Feelings Realization, Fluff and Humor, Identity Reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:27:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27438817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zimtlein/pseuds/zimtlein
Summary: “Huh? But I changed the password only three days ago, and none of you were here since then, right?”She can’t even react to the way Adrien winces. Not really, because she is still wondering how he would know her password when the only one she gave it to is –Oh.Wait.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 56
Kudos: 599
Collections: Miraculous Ladybug and Cat/Chat Noir Reveal





	home is where your wi-fi connects automatically

A quiet and peaceful night, and just as those two special words are about to fall from Marinette’s lips, her kwami right next to her, she hears a crashing sound on the other side of her balcony. She makes a jump. When she wants to exchange a look with Tikki, the kwami is already gone.

Well, okay then.

It doesn’t take long until she discovers the source of that noise. It’s a familiar heap of blackness with a dash of blonde shaggy hair. She raises her eyebrows and pokes the object with her foot.

“Hey. Uh. Are you okay?”

“No,” Chat Noir grumbles, face turned to the floor.

“Okay. Um. Do you need, I dunno, catnip? Some milk? A treat?”

“A treat? I’m not a dog.”

“Oh, yeah, wow, that’s so easy to forget. Thank you for reminding me.” She exhales soundly and crouches down to him. “Do I need to be worried?”

“Yes.” Chat looks up sharply. An expression of pure misery meets her. “It’s an absolute _cat_ astrophe.”

At that, concern blooms in her chest, and she holds herself back from reaching out for him. “What is? What happened?”

“I’m in _mew_ sery, Marinette. This is more than un _fur_ tunate!”

She keeps looking at him. “Okay, I get it. You’re very punny. Now tell me, what happened?”

He sniffs, sitting up in front of her with his shoulders hunched. “It’s … it’s a longer story.”

“Oh boy,” she mumbles as she sits down too, bending her knees and wrapping her arms around them. As long as no akuma decides to wrack spontaneous havoc on this city, they’ll be fine. After all, Chat is still her partner, and she cares for him too much not to be affected by his slightly glazed-over eyes. “I’m listening.”

“See,” he sniffs one last time, “ _someone_ at home decided to switch to a different phone provider.”

She wants to tell him that it would be wiser not to tell her any such details, but seeing as this is pretty basic information, she lets it slide. Instead, she gives him an expectant look.

“They pay, like, way more – which, according to them, should get them a _way better_ phone connection – but get this.” He leans closer, wide eyes full of desperation. “It doesn’t.”

Marinette blinks, backing just the slightest bit away. “Okay?”

“I don’t have an internet connection on my phone right now, Marinette.”

The following silence is as heavy as his stare, and Marinette furrows her brows. “Use your wi-fi, then.”

At that, two heavy hands land on her shoulders, the palpable desperation growing like a shadow in the night between them. “It’s the same provider, Marinette. It’s the same freaking provider.”

She blinks at him again. “Public wi-fi?”

He gasps, letting go of her as if having been burned by a blasphemous creature. “And have some unemployed guy in southern India use my phone as means of farming bitcoins? Over my dead cat body!”

“Okay, all right. And what about your baton? Isn’t there some, uh –” She catches herself quickly. “Not that I know any details, but I sometimes saw, you know – um, the Ladyblog published an article once, something about your – and photos – you, taking – weapon. Internet?”

She smiles convincingly, hoping he can make sense of whatever she tried to say right now. Luckily for her, it seems like he does.

“Yes,” Chat mumbles sourly. “I already tried using that. But Plagg – a plague. It was a plague to even open the website, and it wouldn’t let me watch anything.”

Right. This is getting ridiculous. “Why exactly are you here then?”

“Marinette. Marinette, you’re my last hope.” His cat ears perking up, he flutters his eyelashes at her. “Can I please, please use your wi-fi, please?”

She stares. “No.”

“ _Purr_ etty please?”

“No.”

“ _Purr_ etty, _purr_ etty please?”

“No.”

“ _Purr_ etty –”

“No!” she interrupts him.

He hunches his shoulders and pouts. “But why not? I promise I won’t farm bitcoins. Or any other coins. Or farm anything at all. I’m a careful kitty who doesn’t even like farming games.”

She splutters wildly. “I can’t just let you connect to my wi-fi, Chat!”

“Why?” He squints. “Are you some IT pro who could hack my phone and find out where I live?”

“No – but maybe someone else could!”

“That’s why I came to you. Who’d ever hack a normal, sweet girl like you?” He grins at her. “An amazing, really smart girl with great taste in fashion and ooh, I love your shoes, are they new?”

She glances at her entirely shoeless socks. Tiredly, she directs her stare back at him. “Stop trying to flatter me.”

“Me _ow_? Flattering you just to make you say yes? I would never!” He keeps grinning at her. “Oh, and have you cut your hair lately? Really suits you. You’re positively glowing! Like a cat in new fur.”

“Chat, this won’t work.”

“Marinette, please!” His desperation returns in full force, and he basically goes to his knees before her. “There’s this stream on Twitch that I have to watch, because there’s this new anime coming out, and – don’t look at me like that! It’s not a phase, Marinette, it’s a lifestyle!”

“A stream.”

“Yes! You don’t understand, it’s part of my culture!”

“Your culture. A stream.”

“Yes – why are you facepalming? I’m serious!”

“Okay, Chat.” She sharply looks up again. “But only for this evening. _Only_ this evening. Got it?”

His whole face lights up. “You’re the best. Seriously, the best. The real cat’s meow.”

“Stop your cat-themed compliments. They aren’t working.”

“Anything for you, princess. Even if it means having to keep quiet about my endless admiration for you.” He is basically vibrating on the spot as she gets up with a sigh, and she shakes her head at herself while climbing down the ladder to her room.

She’ll so regret this. Then again, no harm in letting him use her wi-fi for just one evening, right? Bless her cluelessness regarding IT. She’d have no idea how to find something like an IP address, let alone connect that to any kind of device. Her router is downstairs, close to her parents’ bedroom, and she jots down the senseless sequence of letters and numbers before going back to her room again.

Chat Noir is waiting for her in the same position she left him in, tail standing on end and ears perking up as she comes closer. She looks at him, then at the piece of paper in her hands, then at him again.

“Turn around,” she tells him.

His grin twitches. “Why?”

“Because I can’t see your phone.”

His innocent large eyes still hold her in. “Why?”

“Because,” she exhales soundly, “I can’t know which phone Chat Noir owns.”

“Oh.” His grin returning, he taps against his temple. “Being a smart kitty right there, huh?”

“Only using my brain. Maybe you could watch and learn sometimes.”

“Mew-ouch.”

After he has done what he was told, she reads the password out loud, hearing a triumphant sound from him just seconds afterwards. Then he sends a look over his shoulder.

“You know you can change the password to something easier, right? Those letters don’t really make much sense.”

“You can?” She tilts her head. “How would you know? Are _you_ some IT pro?”

He chuckles. “Nope. But Na- a – an acquaintance of mine loves to do that stuff.” She can basically hear the roll of his eyes as he imitates a cold and lifeless voice. “It’s for your own safety. No, I am not allowed to change the schedule. Every second Monday, the password gets changed. No, it’s not a hassle, it’s a necessity, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Huh.” She taps against her chin. “Maybe I’ll do just that. So you can’t be a pesky kitty and keep using my wi-fi.”

“No worries. This evening only, you said. Of course, this cat respects your wishes.”

His whole upper body is bent over his phone, his eyes seemingly glued to it. If an akuma were to attack right next to him, he probably wouldn’t even notice. Hell, if she were to transform right next to him, he wouldn’t even notice. Not that she’d ever do so, but still.

Some quiet sounds emerge from his phone. She doesn’t listen too closely. The less details she knows, the better.

“All right, kitty,” she says. “You enjoy your culture, and I’ll do some homework.”

He gives her a thumbs-up.

“Don’t forget to disconnect after you’re done.”

He gives her another thumbs-up.

“And also, don’t forget to delete the password. There’s a reason I didn’t give you that piece of paper. And also –”

“Got it,” he tells her before she can go on.

She sighs one last time and climbs down the ladder yet again.

Sitting at her desk, Tikki starts hovering in front of her face, her voice a whisper. “That was very nice of you, Marinette!”

“No biggie.” She shrugs. “It’s just one evening, after all.”

“That’s true. I bet Chat Noir will keep his word.”

He better, or she’ll think about several ways to haul him over the coals.

“You’ll keep an eye out for sudden akumas, right?” Marinette takes a glance at her window. “Just so I don’t have to worry.”

“Of course! And I’m sure Chat Noir can spare a minute away from his river too, right?”

Marinette cracks a grin. “Stream. He’s watching an internet stream. A live video.”

“Oh,” Tikki breathes. “Modern technology sure is complicated.”

Still grinning, Marinette goes to work.

Math homework is keeping her up for more than two hours, and when she’s finally finished, it’s almost midnight. Her parents came to tell her goodnight (good for her that they didn’t think of taking a spontaneous look at the balcony), and already in her pajamas, she enters her balcony once again. But Chat Noir is already gone. Pensively, she looks at the spot he occupied.

“Maybe he thought you had gone to sleep already?” Tikki offers.

“Yeah. That must be it.” She shrugs, taking a last look at the city. “I’m just glad he could properly enjoy his culture.”

Tikki giggles. “Yes, me too.”

Three evenings later, just as she is entering the balcony, the sight of leather reflecting moonlight makes her jolt in surprise.

“Chat!” she calls out. “What are you – are you …?”

His leathery tail is slowly moving from left to right, and he glances over his shoulder, an innocent expression stretched over his whole face. “Good evening, princess! So good to see you! May I say, you look fabulous. The real cat’s pajamas.”

She feels her cheeks turn warm as she looks down at herself. Yes, pajamas. Comfortable and definitely not fashionable ones. Then she swiftly lifts her head again. “Stop distracting me. What are you doing here, watching something on your phone?”

He blinks out of large, round eyes. “Marinette. I just know in my heart that you’d always help a kitty in need.”

“Your own internet connection is still not working.”

He keeps blinking rapidly. “Your intellect is _purr_ plexing. A sight to behold.”

“So you decided not to disconnect from my wi-fi. Even though I told you to.”

“Marinette!” It’s no more than a whine, and he needs some seconds to hide his phone from her before he stands up. She can at least appreciate that much. “I know I broke my kitty’s honor. I know this is unforgivable. But you have to understand! I’ve been surviving for days with only sporadic internet access. You know what it’s like to have your video be interrupted five times in twenty minutes?” He leans closer to her, darkness in his eyes. “It’s torture.”

Honestly, she can imagine that much. Still, she crosses her arms and huffs. “Chat. I told you. One evening only.”

“Just this once? Only one more evening?” He flutters his eyelashes at her. “ _Purr_ etty –”

“What’s so important that you have to watch it right now?”

He stills. Looks away. Looks at her again. “A video.”

“A stream?”

“Not this time.”

“Then what?”

“An important video.”

“What’s so important –”

“The Ladyblog, okay? There’s a new video on there, and …” His expression dead serious, Chat starts to gesticulate. “I’ll have to start an analysis on Ladybug’s facial movements to determine how much attention she was paying me, and based on that, I’ll calculate on which day of the week she’d be most likely to accept my marriage proposal. Depending on the result, I can choose the most appropriate engagement ring too.”

Marinette’s face falls. Her tongue trips over itself in an attempt to bring out coherent syllables. “Wh-what –”

“Just _kitten_.” He puts his hands on her shoulders. Again. “But I really, really have to see those videos.”

Maybe she doesn’t really want to hear more than that. She takes a quick breath, then another one, then another one. “This evening only, Chat. And after that, you really are going to disconnect from my wi-fi. Got it?”

His cat ears perk up, his tail standing on end as he pats her shoulders numerous times. “I knew I could trust in you, princess. This kitty thanks you from the bottom of his heart.”

She sighs loudly. “Just promise me to keep an eye out for akumas, okay?”

“Sure.” He waves off her words. “And even if I wasn’t, Ladybug would keep this city safe. There’s no one more dependable than her.” He sends her a broad smile. “Apart from you, maybe.”

“Okay, all right. Just stop looking as if you swallowed a whole cage full of canaries.”

“With _paw_ leasure.” Grinning at his own pun, he bows slightly. With a quiet hum, he returns to his sitting place, back turned to her and the sounds of his phone becoming audible just seconds afterwards.

Another night of peaceful patrolling ruined. She sighs internally as she gets back to her room, making sure the lid is closed tightly before she whispers Tikki’s name a few times. The kwami appears next to her, looking at her with a tinge of concern.

“Can you believe it?” Marinette says. “He didn’t keep his word!”

“Well, that’s … Maybe a reliable internet connection is just very important to Chat Noir?”

“That’s important to about anyone,” Marinette mumbles as she sits down at her desk, pulling her laptop close. “But it doesn’t mean Chat has to use my wi-fi. Just imagine what would happen if Hawk Moth decided to akumatize some IT genius!”

“Ah, yes, the wonders of modern technology.” Sitting down next to the laptop, Tikki watches what is going on onscreen. “But Hawk Moth already did akumatize IT geniuses, and nothing happened.”

“Yes, but what if something happens next time? Or the time afterwards? Or the time after that?”

“What exactly should happen?”

“I don’t know! Maybe that akuma could – what is it called – dox him.”

“The Doxer.”

“Don’t give Hawk Moth any ideas!”

Tikki nods a few times, eyes still trained on the screen. “’How to change wi-fi passwords’ … Are you really going to do this?”

“Does Chat leave me any choice?” Marinette shoots back. “You know how the saying goes. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice …”

One hour and a half has passed when Marinette is confident in her password altering skills. Again, it’s already midnight, and when she peeks outside, no Chat can be found anywhere. And she bets her Lucky Charms that he didn’t disconnect from her wi-fi yet again. Squinting her eyes at darkness, she waits a few more seconds until closing the lid for good, and then she proceeds to grab her phone and tiptoe to the router downstairs. Her parents are already peacefully sleeping, so Marinette keeps her voice hushed as she inspects the router for its IP address.

“I do feel sorry for him. But he’s being careless.”

“Or you’re being very careful,” Tikki retorts.

“Maybe. Better be safe than sorry, though.”

“I agree. It’s very mature of you to be that responsible.”

Marinette takes it as a compliment, concentrating on her phone again. At least all that researching gave her the needed resources to make the whole process easy enough, and instead of a random sequence of letters and numbers, she thinks about another password.

“Something I can easily remember,” she mumbles. “And others can’t. Especially not Chat Noir.”

Tikki nods. “And something others can’t figure out that easily, right?”

“Yeah. Something with numbers and letters.” Marinette feels herself blush. “I think I got it.”

Tikki watches as she puts in the new password, and afterwards, she giggles lightly.

“Marinette?”

Before she can fly out of the door, only some spare minutes left until school starts, her mother’s voice holds her back, and Marinette stumbles backwards a few steps. “Yes, maman?”

Sabine is standing in the doorframe upstairs, her brows furrowed. “Do you have any idea why we can’t connect to our wi-fi anymore?”

Oh. Marinette feels all blood leave her cheeks, and she scratches her elbow nervously. “I, uh, I might have changed the password.”

“You did? Why?”

“I,” she starts, searching for words, “we, we learned how to do it in school, and I just, I wanted to see if it really works.”

A few seconds of silence. Sabine doesn’t look exactly overjoyed, but not too angry either. “All right, dear. Please leave us a piece of paper with the new password.”

“Sure! I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Please just tell us next time, or we’ll have to keep wondering why we have no internet connection for the whole day. We aren’t as well-versed in all that internet stuff as you kids are, you know.” A little sigh. “Our radio in the bakery is connected to the internet, and we need a working connection for e-mails too.”

“That’s – I forgot. I’m so sorry, maman.” Quickly, Marinette grabs a pen and a piece of paper, jotting down the new password hastily. “I’ll change the settings for all the other stuff when I get home, okay?”

“No worries. We’ll manage most of it.”

Cheeks hot with shame, Marinette nods at her mother and waves at her. “Again, sorry – and bye!”

“Have a nice day at school, dear.”

The clock on her phone tells her that school has already started, and Marinette starts running, the few meters to the school seeming endlessly long. “Guess I wasn’t as careful as I thought,” she tells her kwami as she enters the building.

Tikki peeks out of her bag. “I forgot too, to be honest. Technology is way too complicated for me. I didn’t know there are so many things connected to such a small box – and you don’t even need any cables to do so!”

“That’s why it’s called wi-fi. You know, wireless … something.”

So much for that.

Marinette is just about to open the skylight, Tikki trailing shortly behind her, when she is greeted by a sudden face.

With a shriek, she lets go of the lid. A crash sounds when it falls shut. She needs a second to catch her breath, and then she pushes the lid open again, coming face to face with Chat Noir himself.

“You changed the password,” he breathes, sounding almost appalled.

Tikki was smart enough to slip away unnoticed, and Marinette blinks at Chat, flabbergasted. “What?”

“You changed your wi-fi password.”

“How long have you been sitting here?” She exhales soundly. “Just to tell me this obvious fact, that is?”

He mumbles something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like “I swear no more than one hour”.

With a heavy sigh, she climbs outside for good, closing the skylight with more gentleness this time. Then she turns back to his absolutely desperate face. “Don’t look at me like that! You were the one who suggested I should do it!”

“It wasn’t a suggestion. It was a possibility.”

“A possibility I used.”

“But,” Chat sniffs, “how do I watch videos then? Without a working internet connection? Without a good soul to share their perfect and also very fast connection with? A good, lovely friend with great fashion sense? Someone who would never, ever let their friends down? Ever? Ever, ever?”

Her right eye is starting to twitch. “No.”

“But Marinette! _Purr_ e–”

“No! I told you twice to disconnect from my wi-fi, and you didn’t!”

“I had a very good reason!” His cat ears droop. “Please? We’ll get a new provider next week at the latest, and I swear on a whole ton of catnip that I absolutely won’t need to use your internet connection ever again. Ever. No way Jose. Nope.”

She rolls her eyes heavily. “What is it this time? A new Netflix show you _need_ to watch that badly?”

“No!” He pouts. Looks away. Scratches the back of his neck. “There’s this new anime, and everyone is talking about it, and …”

“Oh god.”

“Don’t sigh like that! It’s important.”

“Chat, you can’t just constantly turn up here and use my internet connection for trivial things like a new anime!”

“Trivial?” He gasps as if having been slapped right across his face. “This is anything but trivial. And it’s the last time! I _purr_ omise! No, seriously, I promise. But you have no idea! It’s an anime by my favorite studio! Do you know what that means? If I can’t watch it at yours, I’ll have to wait a whole week to see it, because I can’t just go to a friend’s and sit there for half an hour, doing nothing but watching an anime they wouldn’t even like, and then I’d lose another friend because they think I’m weird, and do you even know how _hard_ it is to make friends, and Marinette, don’t you get it?” His eyes shine with fresh tears. “You are my last hope. My lifeline. My anchor. My –”

She feels a headache coming up, and with a harsh gesture, she stops him from going on. “Okay, Chat Noir. Listen to me.”

Shutting up instantly, he looks at her out of attentive eyes.

“This is what we’re going to do. You can watch your anime. Just this once.”

A grin grows on his lips, but before he can interrupt her, she goes on.

“But you won’t just disappear like you did the last few times. You’re going to stay here, and you’re going to disconnect from my wi-fi. Right before my eyes. Okay?”

His grin lessens a bit. “I didn’t want to wake you up the last few times.”

“That’s very considerate, but I want to make sure you’re keeping your word this time.”

“Okay! Okay.” Before she can react, he has grabbed her hand, breathing a light kiss onto her knuckles. “I knew I could count on you, princess.”

With another eyeroll, she retracts her hand and flicks the top of his head. “Stop your flattery. Just be glad I’m not kicking you off the roof right now.”

“Marinette! Not a cat in hell’s chance you would do something that a _paw_ lling.”

“Better not take your chance at all, then.”

Marinette waits for him to sit in his usual spot, and after telling him her password, he glances at her over his shoulder. There’s something odd to his look. For a moment, she gets the horrible feeling that he knows something he shouldn’t know, but then his grin has returned.

“Not very complicated, but efficient, I guess.”

“And hopefully something you won’t remember that easily,” she mumbles.

“Nah, no worries. Goes right in one kitty ear and out the other again.”

“Good.”

She watches him for another few seconds, his back bent fully over his phone as sounds emerge from it, and then she returns to her room. Exhausted, she slumps into her chair and turns clockwise.

“Please tell me he’ll stop coming here soon,” she mumbles as her kwami sits down on the desk next to her.

“I hope so too. He seems rather desperate.”

“And I’m really worried this won’t end well.”

“I’m sure it will! Don’t worry too much, Marinette.”

But even those words can’t help much, and with a sigh, she tries to distract herself by doing some homework. For half an hour, it works just well.

Until Tikki’s panicked face appears before her. “Marinette!”

She is on alert in a matter of seconds. “Akuma?”

“Yes! Chat Noir is already on his way. We’ve got to hurry!”

Marinette doesn’t need to be told twice. She transforms, those two special words slipping from her lips, and with no hesitation at all, she swings into the night.

“Pound it!”

Chat Noir grins at her as their fists meet. The previously akumatized guy is already safe and sound (ironically enough, he was locking people inside their own phones – maybe Tikki did give Hawk Moth one or two ideas), and the night becomes peaceful once again. Until Ladybug’s earrings start beeping, that is.

“Well, time for some beauty sleep,” she quips.

“Not that you’d need much of that.” Chat winks at her, and she reacts by rolling her eyes with a smile. “No sleep for me yet, though. Got to give a friend a quick visit.”

At that, her face falls at once. “Oh. Visit? A friend?”

He seems to misinterpret her expression, a sly smile on his face. “Don’t you worry, love bug. There’s only space for one lady in my heart, and that lady is –”

“In the middle of the night?” she interrupts him quickly. “Don’t you think your friend is already asleep?”

Making a face, Chat scratches the back of his neck. “Well, she could be. But she won’t be too happy if I don’t keep my word.”

Oh, crap. A way too broad grin appears on Ladybug’s lips as she tries to find a plausible excuse. “Oh, I think she’ll forgive you! Especially because you had to defend the city from an akuma, right? That’s not an easy job. In fact, it’s a very hard job. I think she’ll understand if you tell her you had duties to fulfill, right?”

Narrowing his eyes, Chat stares at her. Ladybug is starting to sweat, but she keeps up her grin, and then, he gives a hum. “You aren’t wrong. She really likes duties.”

She has no idea what that is supposed to mean, but then again, there are far more important matters. “Yep, so I’d advise you to head home.”

“And as always, my lady is absolutely right.” Chat gives her a two-finger salute before turning around, a beep from his ring reminding them of their predicament. “See you, LB.”

Even though he starts out leaving in a different direction than her, Ladybug still takes a winding route to her home, looking out for any trace of a shadow near her. But she’s alone. When she arrives at her balcony, her earrings beep one last time before releasing an exhausted little kwami.

“Oh man,” she sighs as she hastily searches for a macaron in her room. “At least this time, he has a good reason why he couldn’t keep his word.”

Tikki nibbles her macaron, eyes still tired. “A very good reason. So you can’t be mad at him, right?”

“Not really.” She sighs again. “I can’t even change the password without having to tell my parents a good enough reason too. Jeez, and now I _do_ hope he’ll turn up rather sooner than later again.”

“Turned the cat right in the pan, huh?”

Marinette laughs at that. “Chat Noir would be proud of you, Tikki.”

“Okay. Popcorn is ready, movie is almost chosen.” Alya keeps sorting through the shelf next to the TV. “Just give me a second. This needs to be perfect. Something classy, yet not too classy. Just with a dash of romance, too.”

“Ya know your movie choices are always great and all,” Nino says from the couch, giving a sigh. “But if I see Ryan Gosling one more time, I’m gonna run outta the room, screaming.”

Alya gasps. “No taste whatsoever! And you call yourself my boyfriend?”

“Ryan Gosling,” Adrien repeats. “Who’s that again?”

At that, Alya’s jaw basically drops as she shoots Adrien a long look. “Oh, no. You did _not_ , sunshine. I’ll pretend I never heard that.”

“What? What did I do?”

Watching them, Marinette isn’t nervous at all. Her hands are just slightly shaking. Because a movie night with her friends is easy, but having Adrien here too makes her heart pound wildly. But that’s okay. Nothing embarrassing will happen, she tells herself as she carries the bowl of popcorn to the couch. She stops behind it as she watches Alya turn around again and continue searching through the DVD cases. Adrien leans his head back until he can shoot Marinette a cheeky smile that reveals he was just joking around. With burning cheeks, she returns it.

Nino is looking at his phone when he speaks up again. “Dude, that’s so weird.”

“What is?” Marinette responds.

But Nino doesn’t respond. Instead, he stretches his arm out for Alya. “Sorry, Alya, can ya give me your phone for a sec?”

“Sure. Why?” As she says that, she already hands him her phone, and Nino’s brows furrow even further.

“Yeah. Weird as heck.” This time, Nino turns around until he can look at Marinette, her hands still around the bowl of popcorn. “Hey, did you change your wi-fi password?”

“Oh.” Her cheeks turn warm. “I did! Sorry, I totally forgot to tell any of you.”

“Really?” Adrien chimes in. “Strange. All fine on my end.”

“Huh? But I changed the password only three days ago, and none of you were here since then, right?”

She can’t even react to the way Adrien winces. Not really, because she is still wondering how he would know her password when the only one she gave it to is –

Oh.

_Wait._

No, no, no –

For a second, no thought will reach her mind. She can only watch Adrien’s shoulders tense, and feel her own shoulders tense, and Alya’s curious look on her, and her mouth drops open before her fingers spontaneously decide to stop following her commands, letting go of the bowl in one smooth motion.

A clattering sound. Marinette’s hands are shaking, and she jumps in surprise. “Oh – oh, so sorry!”

There she goes. Her head a mess. Her floor a mess. Fitting.

Alya helps her collect the lost pieces of popcorn, and Marinette’s fingertips turn icily cold. She can’t look at Adrien properly. If she did, she’s sure she’d never be able to speak another word ever again. So instead, she pushes the bowl close to her when the floor is mostly clean again. “I’ll – I’ll do – popcorn – we need. Some. And. Drink? You, drink?”

Her stammering makes Alya raise an eyebrow. “Do you need some help?”

“N-no! No, no.” With that, Marinette flees out of the room, finally able to breathe again, and disappears into the kitchen.

She doesn’t know what to do. She doesn’t know what to think. The glasses she takes out of the cupboard almost slip from her fingers, and she needs three attempts to open another package of popcorn. Just when she is about to whisper her kwami’s name frantically, she hears steps behind her.

 _Please don’t let it be Adrien. Please don’t let it be Adrien. Please_ –

“You really don’t need any help?” Adrien’s voice reaches her.

_Great._

She can’t look at him, instead staring at the microwave. Counting the number of times another piece of corn pops. “Really. Sure. I mean, I don’t care about you. About – no, I don’t – that’s okay. You. Here.”

“Uh, sorry, but was that – do you want me to leave?”

He sounds unsure, his voice just the tiniest bit shaky, but she can’t bring herself to turn around to him.

“I don’t – it’s not – no, I don’t mind.”

She resists the urge to smack her hand against her forehead. She waits for Adrien to join her at the counter while she is still stubbornly staring at the microwave. There’s some distance between them. She’s glad.

Silent seconds pass by. She doesn’t know what to say. Her hands are still shaking.

Then, finally, Adrien speaks up again.

“You have an interesting new password.”

Oh god. She could just deny it all. Call it a coincidence. Pretend nothing ever happened. She is thinking about it, she really is, but then Adrien goes on.

“Seems kind of familiar, but I don’t think I can quite put my finger on it.”

“I …” She frantically searches for words, cheeks searing hot by now. “I didn’t – it has letters and numbers, so it’s not that easy to mind out – mind – find out, I mean, figure out –”

“Right. A very secure password indeed.”

He sounds amused, and also uncertain, and she knows there are still several ways out of this. A whole number of explanations. She’d just have to ask. She knows he’s waiting for her to ask. She waits for the next popping sound. Her hands just won’t stop shaking, and she can’t look at him out of fear of becoming a mess of senseless syllables and undecipherable thoughts.

It takes her endlessly long to find her voice again, a faint whisper that will hardly leave her lips.

“Hope your life-changing anime was really worth it, then.”

Her heart is beating so quickly it’s making her dizzy. If it really was a coincidence – if there really was another explanation –

“It was. Even though I can’t wait for a proper internet connection. Can’t annoy poor innocent girls forever, can I?”

No way to get out of this now, she thinks.

Maybe she doesn’t want one anyway.

Only hesitantly, she turns her head to look at him. He must have watched her for a longer time already, because their eyes meet instantly. The thought makes her shiver from head to toe. Despite his clearly teasing words, his cheeks are reddened, and something about his posture reveals just how terrified he must really feel. Just as she does. She’s not the only being in far over her head here, at least.

It gives her just a tiny spark of courage.

She slides closer. Just a little. Close enough for their arms to almost touch. She sees him swallow a breath. Fear and excitement are shining in his eyes. Her cheeks are glowing, and she can’t help but smile at him shyly.

“Then thanks for still letting me have my beauty sleep, kitty. Very considerate of you.” She refuses to let go of his eyes, every heartbeat vibrating through her whole body. “Even if you said I wouldn’t need much of that, remember?”

Adrien’s eyes widen. He opens his mouth, but doesn’t say anything, both his hands holding onto the counter. He seems just as overwhelmed as she feels, and his cheeks are beet-red by now.

He looks absolutely adorable.

“Cat got your tongue?” she whispers.

He gulps. Leans a bit closer. “You are –”

And just then, a loud peep announces that their popcorn is ready.

“You can keep the password this time,” she tells him before turning away in one swift movement, the smile still stuck on her lips.

Her heart was a stuttering mess during the whole movie. Nino and Alya were sitting between them, and yet Marinette couldn’t help peeking at him every so often. Just trying to imagine it. Trying to imagine what it means for them. Trying to reason with herself why she did it in the first place, but all she can think of are the little careful smiles he sends her and the warmth in his eyes.

It’s already late when the movie ends. Marinette feels a mixture of relief and disappointment as she watches all three of them put on their shoes. Alya is the first to hug her, pointedly whispering in her ear. “You _will_ tell me why Adrien Agreste of all people had your wi-fi password when not even I did. Right?”

“Right! Right,” she squeaks in return.

“Cool beans.” With a grin, Alya backs away, and when Nino is done saying his goodbye too, she grabs his arm and drags him to the door. “All righty, then! We’ll have to go. You know, got to be home in time. See you tomorrow, guys?”

“Sure,” Adrien calls after them. The door is shut before he’s finished uttering his “see you tomorrow”.

Alya. That genius. Or rather, that bearer of heart attacks, seeing as Marinette’s hands start uncontrollably shaking again.

So there they are. It’s still unreal, and she can’t wrap her head around it. Adrien Agreste. Adrien Agreste is –

“About that password,” he says, slowly turning to her.

Embarrassment makes her cheeks heat up. She keeps reminding herself who that teasingly smiling boy in front of her is, behind the mask and outside of it, and she somehow manages to find the words she’s searching for. “If you get too smug, I might have to revoke your password privileges.”

Adrien blinks at her. He is standing right in front of her, so close she can see any tiny emotion playing through his eyes. He gasps, splaying a hand over his chest. “Marinette! You would never. I know you too well.”

“Do you?” she whispers, unable to hold back the wonder in her voice.

“I do.” There’s something hesitant to the way he steps just the tiniest bit closer. She doesn’t step back. “So let me be a curious cat.”

She keeps looking at him, at green eyes holding her in.

“Twenty zero two, AD, AG.”

Her cheeks are still way too hot, but she doesn’t move.

“What exactly inspired you there?”

“Curiosity killed the cat, you know,” she mumbles.

A hand on her cheek. Warm and gentle. She can’t move, can’t think. Can’t concentrate on anything other than his expression anymore. A kind of adoration she would have never expected to be directed at her. A kind of awe that makes her knees weak. His thumb leaves a burning trace. Her heart is bouncing in her chest.

“And satisfaction brought it back,” he mumbles before leaning down to –

A loud squeal makes both of them jump back in an instant, and when Marinette looks for its source, she finds Alya’s face pressed against one of the windows. When their eyes meet, Alya ducks so quickly that only a breath-clouded spot is left on the glass.

So much for that.

Marinette sighs. “I guess – I guess you should … Yeah.”

“Um. Maybe, yeah.”

They look at each other. Look away again. Look at each other again. She only winces a tiny bit when Adrien leans down to her again, this time only pecking her cheek though.

“I feel very flattered, my lady,” he whispers into her ear, leaving goosebumps on her skin, and before he can lean away again, she grabs his shoulder and moves until her lips brush hers.

Only chaste, and only for a second, but it’s enough to leave her shaking and breathless.

She leans back again, letting go of him. Sparkling eyes take her in as a grin appears on his lips, his cheeks turning beet-red. It really, really is adorable.

“You should feel flattered.” Despite her words, her voice is a bit too soft, a bit too quiet. She resists the urge to look away in bashfulness. Instead, she hunches her shoulders. “I don’t make just anyone my password.”

His grin melts into pure warmth, and she feels like she is melting just the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Afaik, we have no canon date for Adrien's birthday, so take that as a piece of headcanon, please!


End file.
